International law means nothing compared to the laws of God for half a thousand Jews of all ages camped at the gates of Gaza, which they consider part of their promised land. They claim their right to occupy the Strip and even expel its inhabitants with a supremacist discourse. They have the support of the Government of Israel. The ultranationalist ministers of National Security and Finance, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, respectively, who are also settlers, visited the camp on Monday afternoon.
Those attending the event in favor of the Jewish occupation of the Strip have the protection of the army and the police. “In less than a year, you will see how the Jews come to Gaza and how the Arabs disappear,” says, between threat and triumphalism, Daniella Weiss, 79 years old and the best-known leader of the Israeli settler movement, under one of the tents set up about 3.5 kilometers from the border fence with Gaza. The same one that hundreds of Gazans led by the Hamas militia attacked on October 7, 2023 to carry out the worst massacre in Israel in the country’s history with 1,200 dead, according to official figures.
That day, the inhabitants of Gaza lost the right to remain there, according to Weiss, who was sanctioned by Canada last June for “facilitating, supporting or financing” the violence of Jewish radicals against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. His speech, widely known and disseminated for decades, fuels the expectations of those present. Some belong to the 700 families who have signed up to settle in the Palestinian Mediterranean enclave. In recent months, even housing developments have been designed.
From the camp, while Israeli artillery detonations sound every now and then, you can see the buildings in the Strip, which have been the target of bombing for more than a year. The Israeli army is maintaining a tough offensive these days, especially in the northern area. At least 32 people have died this Monday in the bombings in Gaza, including on a UN school where hundreds of displaced citizens are taking refuge.
“The land of Israel belongs only to the Israeli people,” says Osher Shekalim, parliamentarian for Likud, the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite the images and data released by the UN, it considers the humanitarian disaster caused in Gaza by the attacks of the Israeli occupation troops a “lie.” “I hope the Palestinians disappear,” he adds.
During this conflict, Daniella Weiss has even organized boat visits to the coast of the Strip among her followers to observe the devastation of the war. “I pray that I will soon be able to enjoy the pleasure of the Gaza coast,” he says while speaking bluntly of an ethnic cleansing of the Strip. Around, the little ones attend craft or pet workshops while eating popcorn, hot dogs and cotton candy offered to them at different stands.
Some participants in the initiative, promoted by far-right and ultranationalist groups, are former settlers of the Strip, where there were Jewish settlements until 2005, when then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of civilians and soldiers. Since then, several wars have taken place in that scenario, but none like the current one, with more than 42,500 Palestinians dead. Now, some ultranationalists want to return to the enclave, like Avi Farhan, 78, who dances in a circle to the rhythm of music holding an Israeli flag and a photo in which he appears in front of what was his house in the settlements of Gush Kativ. Minister Ben Gvir joins the improvised dance floor shortly after.
Elihayu Binyamin, 38, father of five children and one more on the way, also lived in Gaza between 2003 and 2005, who fervently wants to return and settle there with his family. The departure from the Strip was “a crime,” he considers, and “it should never have happened” because “from there, the problems came, especially on October 7,” he affirms. He wears a gun on his belt, like many of those present. Therefore, in addition to resuming the settlements, “they must be sent away.” [a los palestinos de Gaza]because that’s actually what they want. Give them money and let them go to other parts of the world,” he adds. His vision of Israel, which would also include Palestine and areas of Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, does not allow for the recognition of the same rights for Arabs who remain under the Jewish State.
“I imagine that we will join in the second wave of families,” comments Shira Leff Kreitman, 31, who arrived from the United States and mother of three children, without hesitation. He would even settle in a caravan in Gaza and assures that he knows well what the Palestinian enclave is like, through acquaintances who are military personnel, although he has never been there.
Malkiel Barhai, 35, a settler from Eviatar, a controversial settlement in the northern West Bank evicted several times, where 16 families live, comes to the camp to lend his support. Wearing a cowboy hat, Barhai understands that the troops have not completely cleared Gaza of “terrorists,” so something is to be expected. He believes that after the Jews left in 2005, they lost the opportunity to live together and since October 7 everything has changed and they must leave. For him, the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank are as Israeli as the city of Tel Aviv. This man even defends Jewish settlements in areas where the army advances in Lebanon.
Lior Amihai, director of the Israeli NGO Peace Now, has written a letter to the head of the Armed Forces to warn him of the danger that he understands is posed by the initiative of the far-right settlers and the support they receive from ministers and parliamentarians while a hundred remain kidnapped. of Hamas hostages in the enclave.
Weiss boasts that they have already created “more than 330 settlements in Judea and Samaria [como se refiere Israel a Cisjordania] and the Golan Heights”, a Syrian area occupied by the Jewish State. That is the experience on which they base their desire to “do the same here in Gaza.” […]. The Arabs have lost their right to remain in this sacred place,” he insists. And for this, he acknowledges, they have political support. In recent months, she says friends have called her to reserve beach plots for them.
Eliyahu Binyamin, like many of those present, fills his speech with constant religious references and is convinced that “the people of Israel should not vote”, since God is the “only leader” who must be obeyed. For him, exercising the right to vote is a mandatory procedure, but he distrusts politicians and, if there is any option that he can favor, he does not hesitate to defend that of the extreme right of Ben Gvir and Smotrich. When asked about the effects of the Israeli attacks in the Strip, he even defends that the army is “merciful” by notifying the population of the bombings. Israel has forced hundreds of thousands of people to move from one end of the Strip to the other several times amid attacks. Several of his children mill around him during the interview. At the end there are none left. “The same are already inside Gaza,” he jokes.